RE: entering tech writer field

["Paula Puffer" <papuffer -at- psquareddoc -dot- com>]

*LOL* Its possible to become a technical writer through the anthropology
department -- I know because its the route I took. I worked as an
archaeologist in the Phoenix area and other areas of AZ for a couple of
years (saw, found, and worked with some really really cool stuff). Although
I enjoyed what I did, I found it wasn't fulfilling (all the cool stuff ended
sitting on a shelf in a repository) and decided to go back to school and
finish my english minor into a major. Somewhere in my journey through the
desert SW I realized that the one thing that was constant in my life
regardless of what else I did was my love of writing.

By the time I actually made it back to school, Iowa State had the Rhetoric
and Professional Communications program which allowed me to take my techie
side and and my writing side and merge it into a fulfilling career.
Interestingly enough, my first technical writing gig was as a research
assistant for the Center for Indigenous Knowledge for Agriculture and Rural
Development (CIKARD) in ISU's Anthropology Dept. I wrote 3 annotated
bibliographies and created their first web site.

Since then I've written about military vehicles, regulatory compliance
software, medical stuff, oilfield equipment, and recently have started
writing grants for non-profit orgs. I think you can do whatever you want
with a technical writing career as long as you can write well and have a
good basic understanding of the fundamental issues of presenting information
for the particular medium you are using.

Paula Puffer
Reformed Archaeologist
papuffer -at- psquareddoc -dot- com




Win writes:

I've been steering Greg towards history/anthropology.  His favourite high
school courses have been history (and philosophy!).  One of the
universities to which he has applied has a combined history/business major;
the other two both allow a major in history or anthropology with a minor in
business... just to keep those feet at least in the vicinity of the ground!

I always tell people that I think Greg would make the perfect museum
curator.  He loves telling people about STUFF!  His knowledge of medieval
weaponry is nothing short of astounding to me.





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